


All The Time In The Universe

by words_reign_here



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-19
Updated: 2014-04-18
Packaged: 2018-01-19 22:38:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1486690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/words_reign_here/pseuds/words_reign_here
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set right in the middle of Dean dying over and over again, Sam meets someone that he never thought he would.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Set right after Voyage of the Damned for the Tenth Doctor and right in the middle of Mystery Spot for Sam.

Sam held his brother’s body, ( _again, goddamn you Trickster)_  his warm blood seeping into his pants and his shirt. He closed his eyes and wanted for Asia to start again, for the warm static scent of sleep to envelope him, to hear that grating voice,

_"Rise and shine, Sammy!"_

But there was nothing. Just the dirty cement, the drizzle of rain on his face and a coughing-wheezing-groaning sound in the distance.

"Come on, Dean. Come on." Sam whispered, pulling Dean’s body closer to his chest. "Just wake me up. Like all those other times-"

"It’s not like the other times, Sam." A soft voice said from behind him. "You know it’s not. It feels differently."

Sam gently laid Dean back down on the cement, his brother’s eyes closed and he could have been sleeping. Yeah, he could have been. Sam stood, pulling himself to his full height and towered over the much more slender man. He pulled his gun out and cocked it. He kept it by his side though. It was hard to tell who was the good guy or the bad guy these days. The other man saw it but did not comment. His brown eyes were wide and sad. 

"You are so young." The man muttered, his eyes skimming Sam from head to toe. "I forgot how young you were."

"What the- what’s that supposed to mean?" Sam demanded. 

"Come with me, Sam." The man said softly. "It won’t make it better. I promise it won’t. But maybe it’ll be worthwhile." 

Sam shook his head and stepped back. “I won’t leave Dean.” 

The man wrinkled his brow but nodded. “I understand. There are things you need to take care of. I’ll be back here. At this hotel in a week. If you want to come, I’ll meet you here. If not,” He turned his eyes up to the gray sky and paused for a long moment. “If not, another time. Another place.” He nodded once and took off to a blue telephone box Sam hadn’t noticed before. 


	2. Chapter 2

He didn’t know what he was doing out here. It wasn’t raining anymore, so there was that at least. Sam glanced around, looking for a big blue box and a strange man that guranteed what he he needed to hear. 

( _It won’t make it better. But it will be worthwhile._ )

He looked down at the spot where his brother died and could feel that wave of anger at the Trickster for putting them there. Sam had taken his brother home, to the only father that had mattered to him. Bobby had wept, Bobby had drank his weight in whiskey and begged Sam to give Dean a hunter’s burial.

( _Please, Bobby. Don’t ask me to burn Dean. You_ can’t  _ask that of me._ ) 

In the end, Bobby had let him go, and Sam had watched him disappear in the rear view mirror of the Impala. 

And now here he was, in the parking lot where Dean had died and he had met the strangest man of his life. He wasn’t going to lie to himself about this. He was going to ask this man if he could help him find the Trickster so he could kill him. He could still feel Dean’s blood warming his shirt and jeans. This was not something that would be let go.

He heard the vaguely familiar coughing-wheezing-groaning sound and turned in place, trying to find the blue box and mysterious man. For a brief moment, he saw nothing. Then, there.

There it was.

It was appearing to his left, like a ghost would. He waited until it solidified and when the blue door opened and the man stepped out and leaned against the door, Sam shifted uncomfortably and pulled his duffle closer to him. It had Dean’s old leather jacket, his favorite gun and their father’s journal in there. The keys to the Impala. A picture of him and Dean. Very few things that still mattered to him were in that old green Army duffle.

"You ready, Sam?" The man asked.

"What’s your name?" Sam asked immediately, shifting from foot to foot.

"Doctor."

Sam furrowed his brow for a moment but waited.

"You American boys sure do work the silent brooding, don’t you?" The Doctor asked. "Just Doctor. No more. No less."

Sam took a step forward and nodded. “Ok. Will you help me?” He asked, reaching the door finally and laying a hand against it to make sure that it was real. It was warm. It was real. The Doctor was real.

"In any way I can, Sam." The Doctor replied. He stepped inside. "Allons-y, my boy."  


	3. Chapter 3

"Where would you like to go?" The Doctor asked, striding purposefully to the center console. Sam was stuck at the entrance. 

"It’s-"

The Doctor turned to him and grinned. He nodded, encouraging Sam to go on.

Sam spun in a circle and looked up and around. “But how did you-“

The Doctor leaned one slim hip against the console and waited for Sam to gather his thoughts.

"You-" Sam cleared his throat and went to the other side of the console and looked down a very long hall. "You manipulated the physics of this place. It can’t exist. Holy shit. I mean, it shouldn’t exist." 

"Yet here we stand." The Doctor said, gesturing around him. 

"Quantum mechanics." Sam stated, raising an eyebrow. "You are able to pick and pull apart a place because you can manipulate things at a nanoscale. Right?" 

The Doctor cocked an eyebrow. “Missing a few steps, but yes. Essentially you are right.” He grinned, bright and broad. “Where would you like to go?” 

At this, Sam hesitated. He knew where he wanted to go. He knew he wanted to take care of the Trickster for killing his brother.

"Familial obligations, Sam, are the hardest things to understand. I could study these particular bonds of yours for centuries and not understand them." The Doctor said, losing his smile. "Tell me what you need."

"I need-" Sam stopped. He leaned against the railing of the and dropped his bag. The weight of his brother’s favored possessions and the last thing his father left him finally left his shoulders. "I need to understand. Why do I have to feel like this? I have to kill him, Doctor. I have to."

The Doctor pursed his lips and began to turn dial and flip switches. There was a small shake and Sam was reminded of Dean’s hatred of flying things.

"I can’t condone killing. I cannot." The Doctor said, leaning over his controls. He turned his head to look at Sam. "But I can understand it. God knows, I can understand it."

"Will you teach me?" Sam whispered.

"Yes." The Doctor replied.  


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor didn’t like to admit it, but Sam’s rough and tumble attitude was sometimes a welcome addition to his adventures. He didn’t want to admit that his boyish charm came in handy as well. Aliens and humans alike fell like trained dogs underneath Sam’s smile and the Doctor could only roll his eyes.

Not to say that Sam was not a fighter as well. There were moments (oh, the Doctor loved to see Sam fight) when the Doctor was more inclined to step away from a confrontational situation and let his newly minted companion use veiled threats and maybe once or twice a punch was thrown.

Don’t let it be said, however, that Sam was not appreciative of how the Doctor handled these situations as well. Brought up in America and with the standard chauvinistic, macho attitude that Hunters were known for, Sam had a deep appreciation for what the Doctor did and how he did it. Sam would let him ramble on for as long as he needed to, nodding even if he didn’t always understand.

There were intense debates between the two of them: were demons aliens? And if they were, did they deserve to live as they had been created? If there were demons, where were the angels to balance the equation? Were angels really just a more advanced civilization just screwing with humanity? If so, should they be penalize according to the Shadow Proclamation?

Sometimes the Doctor would let them float through space, pointing out things that Sam had never seen and probably never would.

And maybe it was between the adventures and the sights and the debates that Sam learned to let go, just a little bit. He learned that not everything was fair, but there were certain levels of fair that no one could really comprehend. Yeah, he had lost his brother, felt his life’s blood pour out on his clothes. He had watched his eyes dim and knew he was gone. He had _felt_ him leave.

“Don’t think that all this traveling and all this time will let me forget that.” Sam muttered one day over sandwiches somewhere in a galaxy whose name he could not pronounce. “He was my brother, Doc. He raised me when there wasn’t anyone else even if he was just a kid too.”

The Doctor shoved a piece of fruit into his mouth and chewed slowly, watching Sam very, very carefully. The Doctor had been down this path. He knew Sam’s anger was like the ocean; it could recede for a time but it would always come crashing back. “Dean was a good man. The best brother a person could wish for. I don’t want you to forget him, Sam. Nor do I wish for you to forget the manner in which he died and all the circumstances. What I do want you to learn also, Sam, is the capacity of human love.” The Doctor leaned forward a bit and caught Sam’s wrist in his hand until Sam raised his eyes to the Doctor. “Your species has an unlimited ability to love. What I am asking you to see, to find, is that capacity, Sam. To know that because you enjoy something else, love someone else, eventually laugh and smile again is not to sully Dean’s memory. It is in celebration of that memory. He’s the one that taught you all those things, wasn’t he? And he would want you to remember him like that.”

Sam’s eyes were bright with tears when he looked down at the Doctor’s fingers lightly trapping his wrist. The Doctor gave Sam’s wrist a final squeeze before letting go and standing up. “Well. I don’t know about you, but I want another of those green sugary bits.”

The one thing about the Doctor, he always seemed to know when Sam needed to be alone.   

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

It was with the Dravhins that Sam was injured. He did not have it in him to hurt another person, not seriously. The Doctor could feel his want for life flagging. He could see it in his eyes and before the Doctor was able to fend them off of Sam, he was on the dirty floor of an unkempt shop, bleeding. The Doctor saw a blinding red and before he was sure of what he was doing he had surrounded himself and Sam in a ring of thick fire, the Dharvins unbearable screams filling the air. The Doctor knelt by Sam.

“Doc-“ He started.

“Sh. Just wait. The TARDIS will be here in a moment.” The Doctor soothed, pushing Sam’s hair out of his face and giving him the huge smile.

“She’s really something, isn’t she?” Sam asked, falling back on the dirty floor. The Doctor urged him back up. He knew how fragile these silly humans were and one simple infection could kill his-

It could be the end of Sam.

“I need to lay down, Doc.” Sam whimpered, the slash across his abdomen, darkening the fabric  of his shirt. The Doctor frowned down at the floor.

“Not here. Come on, Sam. Just sit up for a bit longer.” The Doctor tugged on him a bit harder but Sam couldn’t quite keep himself up.

“Here.” The Doctor said. He slid behind Sam and said, “Ok, lean back.”

“Doc-“

“Did I ever tell you about the time one of my best friends turned into a giant floating head?” The Doctor said, surprised at the warmth of Sam’s blood and desperately wondering where the TARDIS actually was.

“What?” Sam asked, distracted and weary enough to slump against the Doctor’s chest. He was stronger than he looked.

“Yeah. Giant  head. Floating in a huge glass dome. It was amazing. Let it never be said that Captain Jack Harkness is not one of the most astounding creatures I have ever come across.”

“Who was he?” Sam asked. But before the Doctor could answer, they heard that hopeful coughing-wheezing-groaning sound. They stumbled inside and into the infirmary where the Doctor hooked him up to the various machines. Sam was a deathly pale color and the Doctor hoped his older brother could hold on just a little while longer to see him.

“Give him just a little while longer, Dean.” The Doctor whispered as he began the machines working on Sam. “Just a little while. I want to show him the Waterfalls of Grace. Just give me that little bit of time.”

There was a familiar beep. The TARDIS was tracking Sam’s heartbeat.

Sam took a deep breath.

The Doctor smiled.

<<>> 

Let it be known that while the Doctor had every intention of taking Sam right to the Waterfalls of Grace, it should also be known that the Doctor has creatures galaxy and universe wide to help. So after they helped a small blue skinned little boy, they floated for a while, watching suns and stars spin below their feet, the TARDIS doors wide open.

The Doctor sat on the edge and drank his tea. He heard Sam come up behind him and plop down on the floor. After a moment he felt Sam’s legs slide to either side of him, and his chin hooked over his shoulder.

“Doc?” Sam whispered.

“Yes, Sam?” The Doctor replied.

“Can the Waterfalls of Grace wait a little while longer? Can I have a little more time with you?”

“I’m a Time Lord, Sam. We have all the time in the universe.”  The Doctor closed his eyes shut and leaned back against Sam. Safe, stalwart, sweet Sam.

“But yes, the waterfalls can wait.” The Doctor replied.

<<>> 

Aliens and adventures tumbled past the Doctor and Sam until one day, Sam stopped dead in his tracks and looked back over at the Doctor.

“Sam?” He asked.

“I can’t remember what he sounded like.” Sam said, turning away from the Doctor. “I can’t- what did he sound like, Doctor? When he was angry? When I said something to make him laugh?” There was a wide-eyed desperate look about him that made the Doctor take a small step back.

“Sam-“

Sam clutched his head for a moment and whispered, “ _Dean_.”

The Doctor watched Sam and came to clear and conscious decision. He would take him back. To that one day. He would make it work.

The Doctor strode over to the console, all work and purpose now. As Sam tried frantically to remember the sound of his dead brother’s voice,  the Doctor worked up calculations, dates, times and locations.

“Ok.” The Doctor said, reaching up for Sam’s wrists. “Ok, you’ll remember.”

“You’re taking me to him? But won’t that screw everything up?” Sam asked. He still didn’t have a hang of all the space time continuum thing.

“No, not at all.” The Doctor replied, a sad smile on his lips already. “It’ll be fine. You’ll be fine.”  There was a weight to his words that gave Sam pause.

“What’s the cost?” Sam asked. The Doctor shook his head and glanced over at the consoles. Sam couldn’t read what he saw. “No, tell me, Doc. What’s the cost to take me back to my brother?”

The Doctor looked up at his- well.

 _His_ Sam.

“You won’t remember me.” The Doctor replied.

“I won’t- I won’t remember this? _Us?_ ”

The Doctor shook his head and raised his hands once more to Sam’s face. His fingers trembled as he placed his hands there, cradled Sam’s hair, felt the feather light touch of his hair against his palms one last time. “I’m so sorry, Sam. I’m so very, very sorry.”

“Can I have a little more time with you?” Sam whispered.

“I’m a Time Lord, Sam. But even we can’t have all the time in the universe.” He replied and with bright eyes, he took away all the time he and Sam had.

<<>> 

Sam turned to Dean, “All right, I’ll pack the car.” Dean said, nodding and turning to the door.

“Wait.” Sam said, turning in the spot he stood now. “You’re not going anywhere alone.”

Dean scoffed at him. “It’s the _parking lot_ , Sam.”

Before Sam could open his mouth to argue even further, Dean turned and strode out of the room, bag over his shoulder. There was a shout and Sam ran out, down the stairs to where Dean stood by the Impala’s trunk, hands raised. A slim man in a blue suit stood between Dean and a guy Sam recognized from his hundred times in the diner.

“Don’t tell me what to do! You ain’t even from this country!” The patron shouted at the man in the blue suit.

“Dude, just give him your wallet. We can pay you back.” Dean muttered. Sam approached the trio warily. The man in the blue suit glanced over at Sam and Sam felt a wave of relief for some reason.

“Ok, all right.” The man in the suit said. He raised his arms and then suddenly reached for the gun and jerked it out of the man’s hands. He stepped away from them and handed the gun to Dean. “Americans. Think guns will solve everything.”

Dean cold clocked the diner patron and sent him sprawling. Sam turned and watched as Dean dragged the guy away from the Impala and picked up both their bags ( _wait, wasn’t Sam’s bag still upstairs?_ ) and tossed them into the trunk.

“Where’d he go?” Dean asked, turning and surveying the parking lot.

Sam looked everywhere and was distressed that he didn’t get to talk to the man in the blue suit.

“Was he familiar looking to you?” Sam asked.

Dean pursued his lips but shook his head. “Nah. I think I’d remember a skinny English dude in suit that was too tight with a trench coat.”

“What’s _that_ supposed to mean?”

Dean stopped and looked around. “You would _remember_ a guy like that, Sam. Even us.”

Sam stopped and looked around and up at the clouds in the sky. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

<<>> 

Castiel let go of the Doctor’s arm and let himself manifest on the Earth’s plane so he could talk to the Doctor properly.

“And you are sure this is how it needs to be?” Castiel asked.

“It’s for the best, I suppose.” The Doctor shrugged. “For now, anyway.”

“What will you do now?” Castiel asked, voice grave. He looked more out of place than usual in Jimmy Novak’s work out attire.

“Travel the universe. See what there is to see. I’ll be ok.” The Doctor paused. “Castiel, I don’t say this lightly, but I need you to take something under grave consideration.”

“Yes, Doctor?”

“Get different clothes.”

“What do you suggest?” Castiel asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“A suit and trench coat seem to be memorable.”

Castiel inclined his head. “I’ll take it under consideration.”

“Until next time, Castiel.” The Doctor said. He turned and left in the direction of his TARDIS.

“Yes, Doctor. Until then.”  


End file.
